Overweight since childhood,I spent most of my 30's tipping the scales around 250lbs. At age 41 I took charge of feeding myself by preparing all of my own meals, no more fast foods! I created a way to use my love of cooking, food, and eating to permanently lose over 100lbs. During this time I discovered kettlebells and my own style of training The Kettlebell Swing, bringing out my inner athlete and erasing all signs of former lifelong obesity. It's never too late, YOU CAN DO IT!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

"5 reps at a time" 20kg, 24kg, dbl 12kg, 28 kg, 32 kg swings

5:30am
30 minutes of, what else? Swings! lol

6:15am 500 Swings, "5 at a time"

I am so freakin' happy I discovered this way of training 5 reps! It all happened because I started with a 100 rep workout (never posted, sorry), that led the the next weeks' 50 rep workout....yep, then came "25", just in time for Xmas on the 25th!

Anyway, I would write a 5 rep workout to be progressively after a "single rep" (power swing), and a double rep workout (soon to come, no worries!). Think about the difficulty not only of the really short work/rest intervals, but how many times you have to put the bell down and pick it up! The difference between a 40 rep, 1 minute long continuous set and 8 sets of 5 reps is that you have to put the bell down and pick it up 8 x more!

Here it is....if you are at a beginning level use your "training weight", DO NOT use progressively heavier bells, and take as much rest as you need between each 20 sets of 5 reps. Every set of 5 reps "starts on the 15 seconds".

20 sets of 5 reps w/20kg (5 min work/2 min rest)

20 sets of 5 reps w/24kg (5 min work/2 min rest)

20 sets of 5 reps w/two 12kg's (5 min work/2 min rest)

20 sets of 5 reps w/28kg (5 min work/2 min rest)

20 sets of 5 reps w/32kg (5 min work...done!)

Just came up with a great idea! Use this video for an "I go, you go" workout! After I do my set of 5 reps, then you do a set of 5 reps. etc...how much fun is that?

Re: "The Swing!" Today is the Day!!! Thank you Tracy for this blog and your book. Love it so far. And as you can see I've read the last chapter 1st. Can't wait to try some of your recipes. Love that you use real food in your recipes. Today is the day for ME to start planning ahead for losing the fat and getting fit!Thanks,Lisa

YEAY and YEAY. I signed up for the HKC in Edmonton today. Super excited!!!!! Also The Swing came today, after only 3 days that I ordered! that's pretty fast, especially for Canadian standards.

You are amazing with this training by the way. It must be tough because the 5/5 routine is tough. My heaviest is the 16 but I do have a few doubles so I will try to make something out of it tomorrow. But for now I'm just excited!!!

I just started following your blog and enjoy the workouts immensely! One quick question - why do your progressions always go up (# reps in the classic 100, wt in this workout) rather than starting at max and working down?

Great question! One of the reasons why they go up is that I don't know where my "max" is. Progressively working up (increase) gives me the chance to test where I am, and where I can go.

For instance, I didn't know how difficult swinging the 32kg for 100 reps was going to be until I started working towards it. That's the reason I chose doubles (12'kg's) after the single 24kg.

I wanted to progressively increase the loads. Although two 12's weighs the same as a 24kg the effect is slightly different....but "easier" than going up to the 28kg!

I knew I wanted to do 500 reps (5 sets of 100) and if I went to 28kg after 24kg that would mean that I would have had to increase the weight up to the 36kg. Not impossible, in fact I knew I could do it, but there are so many variables in training that, now I know I could take it to that level another day....this one was difficult enough....the "Goldilocks" approach..."just right"!

In the beginning of my training I would often ladder up and then ladder down. But now you are correct in noticing that I almost always train progressively heavier/longer/faster, etc until I reach a "max" (for that day!)

I should talk more about how I program my workouts. thanks for asking and I'll be more aware to write about this subject.

About Me

I'm currently having the time of my life living and writing about food, diet, training and exercise. I'm happy, confident and strong. I'm proud of my 25 year marriage, my husband, my two boys, and myself!
I don't know quite what the future holds for me, but I'm all about making my life easier, not harder....I'm done with doing things the hard way!